Achievement and beliefs outcomes of students with high and low expectation teachers

Social Psychology of Education - Teacher expectation models have theorized that expectations are likely to affect student socio-psychological as well as academic outcomes. Effects on...     

Behavior Therapy for Stereotypic Movement Disorder in Typically Developing Children: A Clinical Case Series

Stereotypic movement disorder (SMD) is characterized by repetitive, rhythmic, episodic movement and is associated with distress and functional impairment. A range of behavioral strategies have been implemented for the treatment of stereotypies, but research on the effectiveness of behavior therapy in typically developing children is limited. The following case series describes the implementation of behavior therapy for 3 typically developing children (ages 12 to 14) with SMD. Results showed significant reductions in the frequency and intensity of the stereotypies. Future refinement and testing of a behavior therapy protocol is recommended.     

Dimensionality of organizational justice in a call center context

Summary.-Employees in three call centers were surveyed about their perceptions of organizational justice. Four factors were measured: distributive justice, procedural justice, interpersonal justice, and informational justice. Structural equation modeling was employed to test whether a two-, three-, or four-factor model best fit the call center data. A three-factor model of distributive, procedural, and informational justice provided the best fit to these data. The three-factor model that showed the best fit does not conform to any of the more traditional models identified in the organizational justice literature. This implies that the context in which organizational justice is measured may play a role in identifying which justice factors are relevant to employees. Findings add to the empirical evidence on the dimensionality of organizational justice and imply that dimensionality of organizational justice is more context-dependent than previously thought.     

Bar orientation in operant escape training

In operant escape training a rat is usually required to deflect a bar in a downward direction to terminate shock for a short interval of time. In the study described here, eight rats were conditioned with the bar mechanism modified to require a sideways deflection. The acquisition of escape responding with the bar in the modified position was inferior to the responding typically observed with the bar in the usual position. Sequences of successful escape responding were observed when the bar required a sideways deflection, but the response-reinforcement contingency was not adequate to maintain escape behavior.     

A rat lever designed to minimize partial presses

The force required to move commercial spring-loaded rat levers increases with lever displacement. This, characteristic allows the rat to terminate barpresses before they are recorded. Such partial presses are unlikely to occur when the force requirement rapidly decreases as displacement increases. This inverse relationship between force and displacement can be achieved by requiring the rat to lift the tail of the bar out of a magnetic field; the consequence is that the bar “falls out from under” the S, and nearly all movements of the bar result in switch closure. The use of electromagnetic fields provides two additional advantages: the force requirement can be established and monitored remotely.     

Adolescent parental affinity-seeking: age- and gender-mediated strategy use.

The focus of the present study was the use of parental affinity-seeking strategies by adolescents. Both the type of strategies used and the degree to which age and gender factors mediated their use were examined. The results were consistent with Bell and Daly's (1984) constraints dimension of the affinity-seeking process, with adolescents employing a narrower range of strategies with the parent as a familiar target. Additionally, significant differences in the use of strategies were apparent on the basis of adolescent's age and gender and parent's gender.     

Restraint stress and corticotropin releasing hormone modulation of murine cutaneous POMC mRNA

The skin is a unique immunological defense barrier that protects the organism from occupational and environmental exposures and provides a model system in which to evaluate the interaction of the central nervous system with the peripheral immune response. In the studies presented here, we tested mild, acute restraint stress activation of the cutaneous corticotropin releasing hormone-pro-opiomelanocortin (CRH-POMC) axis. We verified that 2 h restraint stress increased the serum concentration of corticosterone and alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone. We report for the first time that CRH upregulates POMC mRNA expression in mouse skin in vitro. We also demonstrated, by RT-PCR, that 2,4 di-nitrofluorobenzene (DNFB) upregulates cutaneous POMC mRNA expression, the production of which is suppressed by restraint stress. These data confirm the presence and functionality of two hormones of the hypothalamo-pituitary axis in the skin and suggest that activation of the central hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis may over ride activation of the cutaneous CRH-POMC mechanism in the development of DNFB-stimulated allergic contact dermatitis.     

Treatment-resistant depression in late life

Treatment resistance is reported in up to 40% of older patients with major depression. Before labeling an episode of depression as treatment resistant, it is important to ensure that the diagnosis is correct and that the patient has received and adhered to an adequate dose of treatment for an appropriate length of time. It is also important to assess the patient for comorbid physical and psychiatric conditions that can contribute to treatment resistance. In patients who do not experience remission of symptoms with an adequate trial of medication, the following options can be considered: augmenting the antidepressant with a drug that is not primarily an antidepressant, adding a second antidepressant to the first, switching to a different antidepressant medication, or switching to electroconvulsive therapy. This paper reviews the concept of treatment-resistant depression and discusses its assessment and management in the elderly. The author concludes that when a systematic stepped-care approach to treatment is followed, most older patients with major depression will experience remission of symptoms.     

Psychosocial and health-related characteristics of religious well-being

This investigation examined the relationship between religions well-being and eight psychosocial and health-related characteristics. This study assessed the hypothesis that religious well-being is related to overall health. Participants were 462 college students at two separate colleges in the Pacific Northwest. Analysis showed those subjects scoring higher on the measure of religious well-being scored lower on indices like loneliness and hopelessness and higher on self-esteem. Alcohol and drug use also differed significantly between the high and the low, religious well-being groups.